YouTube set to be banned for Australian teens
Under the new ban, children will still be able to access YouTube through an adult's account, but they won't be able to create their own.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese explained, 'Social media has a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms so I'm calling time on it.'
YouTube's parents company, Google, has argued that the platform shouldn't be considered a form of social media, claiming in a statement, 'We share the government's goal of addressing and reducing online harms [but] our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content … it's not social media.'
The ban is set to come into force in December this year, and social media companies could face fines up to AU$50 million for failing to make 'reasonable' efforts to bar children from their platforms.
Video transcript
Australian children and teenagers under the age of 16 will soon be barred from logging into YouTube after the government went back on its decision to grant the video sharing platform an exemption from the country's incoming social media ban.
Under the new ban, children will still be able to access YouTube through an adult's account, but they won't be able to create their own.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese explained, social media has a social responsibility, and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms, so I'm calling time on it.
YouTube's parent company, Google, has argued that the platform shouldn't be considered a form of social media, claiming in a statement, we share the government's goal of addressing and reducing online harms, but our position remains clear.
YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content.
It's not social media.
The ban is set to come into force in December this year, and social media companies could face fines up to $50 million for failing to make reasonable efforts to bar children from their platforms.
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